Removing Bitumen Adhesive From Concrete Floor

When you remove that floor covering to make way for new flooring you may encounter the mastic and wonder whether it is safe to remove the main concern surrounding this question is that black mastic often contains asbestos.

Removing bitumen adhesive from concrete floor.

Remnants and residues left over aren t pleasant to look at and make it impossible to add new decor or refinish to the concrete. And if the people applying it aren t careful it can get onto concrete and create an unsightly difficult stain. Asphalt is some nasty oily stuff. In the past many types of flooring including semi flexible tiles sheeting and wood floors were installed using bitumen based adhesive.

Run the grinder over the glue in rows overlapping each row by about 3 inches to ensure complete coverage. Concrete floors aren t the eyesore they used to be. When removing an existing floor bitumen is easily identified as a black substance. Remove as much of the glue as possible from the concrete using a concrete floor grinder.

It is also a reasonable waterproofing agent and as a result quite successful as both an adhesive and a moisture barrier. Common in homes built in the 20th century black mastic was used as an adhesive for ceramic tile linoleum and other flooring materials. Fortunately there are some good strong concrete cleaners on the market that can cut the oils in asphalt and lift the discoloration from your concrete walkway or drive.